Albus Potter and his Fifth Year Infatuation

Chapter 2: Scorpius's new friend

Albus let out an irritated sigh while Rose and Scorpius continued to blather on to each other, completely ignoring the other two in the compartment.

"Did you know there's a wizard in the United States that created a sleeping spell that affects dragons? He thinks it will really help with controlling and studying dragons better."

"That's amazing! But wouldn't the dragon's hide resist the spell without more wizards performing it at once?" Rose countered back to her newfound academic partner. As he observed the two discuss together, Albus felt sick to his stomach. He hadn't thought of it before, but Rose really was Scorpius's intellectual equal. She'd be able to match him in a way Albus never could. That's what worried him the most; That Scorpius would eventually get bored of him and move on to bigger and better things. In this case, Rose Granger-Weasley. He knew Scorpius had an attraction to her, but he never expected her to return the feelings.

"I mean, a dragon's skin is incredibly-"

"Oh my god, do you two ever get tired of talking?" Albus cut Rose off with his comment and shot her a scathing glare.

"Do you ever get tired of being a selfish, boring, little prat?" The 'boring' comment caused Albus' blood to boil. The two cousins shot insult after insult at each other getting more and more ruthless as the argument escalated. Scorpius and Lily could practically feel the flames sparking off from the looks they exchanged.

"Alright, alright, I don't know what's gotten into you two but you both obviously need to cool down!" Scorpius spoke up. Rose was the first to agree.

"You're absolutely right, Scorp." Albus flinched at his cousin's choice of words. He was usually the only one to use that nickname for Scorpius.

"Why don't you and I find a compartment with less hostile company?" Rose reached out a hand towards Scorpius. Albus' expression of anger betrayed him for a second when he met his friend's eyes. They weren't filled with indignation, or pity. They were full of pleading. Albus' scowl softened. He could feel that Scorpius felt bad for talking to Rose for so long, and he was the one who caused his best friend to feel that way.

"Well?" pushed Rose with a raised eyebrow. Scorpius broke eye contact with Albus and all the anger left in his body was replaced with regret. When the pale boy's fingers landed in her hand, Rose took the opportunity to whisk him away to another compartment. Before they fully went out of sight, Albus caught a glimpse of Rose intertwining her fingers with Scorpius'. The disappointed teen slumped back in his seat while his sister took the now vacant place across from him.

"Well, you really made a muck of things with that one, didn't you?" Lily prodded before popping a chocolate frog in her mouth. Taking a look at the card, she let out a satisfied hum and turned the card around for Albus to see.

"Look, I got Dumbledore! Never had one of him before." Albus gave a quick nod and insincere smile of approval to his sister before returning to his miserable state. They both stayed silent for a while, listening to the sound of the wheels grinding along the tracks before Lily opened her mouth.

"Oh, cheer up, Albie, I'm sure he'll come around. It's not like he can forget about you forever," Another poor choice of words that made Albus' stomach churn. Forget. "Besides, you two are the best pair of friends I've ever laid eyes on, Rose could never replace you. To be honest, she's a tad standoffish. She won't make him happy in the long run."

A chuckle escaped from the gloomy boy's lips.

"Thanks, Lily, but I'm not sure that's entirely true," Albus began as he pulled himself into an upright postion. "He needs somebody to talk about books and magic theory and nerd stuff with. I can't keep up with him like that. I'm just scared someday he'll get bored of me..."

"Albus Potter, you make Scorpius laugh and enjoy himself more than anyone else he knows, he would never trade that away for some bookish brat." Lily said sternly, making steely eye contact with her brother.

Albus didn't respond, but his sister's advice really helped him relax for a few hours, the both of them eventually falling asleep to the light hum of the train.